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Discussion of what made you choose Ram

Pronto said:
Mega Cab Longhorn with Rambox. That pretty much sums it up for me. Nobody else has anything like those three things. King Ranch lags the Longhorn by a good bit even though it's been around a lot longer. Ram interiors across the board are head and shoulders above Ford and especially GM.

I owned Ford trucks my whole adult life from Ranger through to Superduty until I bought a Ram 1500 Longhorn. I looked at Ford again this time, and the Tremor package with that big 7.3l gas engine was tempting but it still came back to Mega Cab Longhorn with Rambox being the things that I desired most.

I like the looks of the Ram better too although I don't really like the direction they went with the 5th Gen 1500s. If the 5th Gen HD's follow that design lead, I'll be really glad I bought a 4.5.
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The 2020 Ram 1500 looks good next to my 18 250020200908_131229_HDR.jpg
 
Pronto said:
Mega Cab Longhorn with Rambox. That pretty much sums it up for me. Nobody else has anything like those three things. King Ranch lags the Longhorn by a good bit even though it's been around a lot longer. Ram interiors across the board are head and shoulders above Ford and especially GM.

I owned Ford trucks my whole adult life from Ranger through to Superduty until I bought a Ram 1500 Longhorn. I looked at Ford again this time, and the Tremor package with that big 7.3l gas engine was tempting but it still came back to Mega Cab Longhorn with Rambox being the things that I desired most.

I like the looks of the Ram better too although I don't really like the direction they went with the 5th Gen 1500s. If the 5th Gen HD's follow that design lead, I'll be really glad I bought a 4.5.
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What design are you talking about? I haven’t seen that much but honestly I don’t look at the 1500 market that much.
 
To me, the 5th gen 1500 design seems to be softened up. It's not that they all look bad but I think they have to be given an offroad or sported up look to add back the diminished aggressive appearance. Anyway, not trying to derail this thread.
 
I've always owned Rams, except for a super duty briefly. My first truck was a 98 Ram 2500 5.9 V8, I've had two 1/2 tons and a 2014 3/4 ton 6.4 and then all 3500s from there on both with gas and diesel. I remember back in fourth grade when the 94/95 Ram came out with the new design, I always wanted one. My grandpa has a 2001 Ram 2500 V-10 Laramie with low miles and in showroom condition. Its stored inside most of the year, never sees winter!

For me its both brand loyalty styling. I will say my 2012-2018 Ram trucks barely had any issues compared to my 2019 and now my 2020 and they're minor issues. I think the Ram platform handles my trailer the best. I so wish they would adopt the 1500 cab on to the HDs and an 8-speed or something like that. I wait patiently.
 
RamGuy84 said:
I've always owned Rams, except for a super duty briefly. My first truck was a 98 Ram 2500 5.9 V8, I've had two 1/2 tons and a 2014 3/4 ton 6.4 and then all 3500s from there on both with gas and diesel. I remember back in fourth grade when the 94/95 Ram came out with the new design, I always wanted one. My grandpa has a 2001 Ram 2500 V-10 Laramie with low miles and in showroom condition. Its stored inside most of the year, never sees winter!

For me its both brand loyalty styling. I will say my 2012-2018 Ram trucks barely had any issues compared to my 2019 and now my 2020 and they're minor issues. I think the Ram platform handles my trailer the best. I so wish they would adopt the 1500 cab on to the HDs and an 8-speed or something like that. I wait patiently.
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I fell in love with the Dakotas when they first came out, but never got one until 2008. Then we got into camping and I bought an o4 Ram 1500, then a 2012 1500. The campers grew big enough to reduce braking on longer grades, so I went to the 2500 with the Cummins. This one has enough butt to stop them! But I have to thank my friend for nudging me to the Ram, that's what friends are for,LOL!
 
I've had Ford, Chevy, Dodge Dakotas, Dodge Ram, Ram, and have always liked the Dodge/Ram trucks the best. My last truck was a 2014 Ram EcoDiesel and I really loved that truck but with towing in the western states mountains, I wanted something with a little more power and better cooling system. So I traded it with 110,000+ trouble free miles for a 2019 Ram 2500 CTD. The best interior, ride, and it's a much better looking truck than the other brands.
 
H3LZSN1P3R said:
My years as a mechanic i know to avoid other brands... plus six in a row ready to tow!
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My friends who tow 20-25k trailers recommended diesel. Wife would not have liked the gas at 3000-4000 RPM while towing. For diesel, my mechanics friends said Cummins for longevity and least issues. My 2013 RAM 2500 diesel had 125K reliable miles. Initial issue with EPA stuff, but no engine issues at all.

I went with a new 2020 RAM 3500 Cummins dually for the towing capacity as we will be buying a new trailer that will maxx or exceed the 2500 capacities by a couple thousand pounds. And comparable Ford or Chevy was $10k more than my RAM.
 
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I'm in the midst of 7 weeks of a leaking sunroof on a truck that is 3 months old with 3k miles. This was the dream truck... delmonico night edition, HO, max tox...

I thought it would be good to re-think why I went with RAM (over ford basically, I didn't even entertain GM products):
  1. Room under the hood, I hate how the powerstroke is just stuffed under the hood and there are hoses just laid on top of the engine.
  2. Interior build quality and features. My previous 2019 F-150 XLT center console was so flexible and there were touch points that had sharp plastic edges (as designed).
  3. I was first shopping in 2019 for a 2020 and the 10 speed in the ford made me nervous I liked the robustness of the Aisin 6 speed. So far the 10 speed seems to be good and now I think Ram lags here.
  4. 100k warranty on RAM covers diesel engine AND powertrain. Ford's only covers the engine to 100k and 60k standard for powertrain.
  5. Looking on fuelly and from my limited test drives the RAM was more efficient from a mpg perspective.
  6. Night edition available on the big horn, for Ford you have to go to at least a lariat to get the "black" appearance package.
  7. The ford column shifter feels so inadequate compared to the ram. Yes this is a pet peeve, but after driving both back to back I felt like the ford would snap off.
  8. Towing capacity on single rear wheel Rams with the HO put ford to shame.
And for fun where I think Ford beats Ram:
  1. Powerstroke/10 speed is way more fun to drive.
  2. First gear ratio on the 10 speed creates a total reduction with 3:55 gears that is lower than my max tow aisin with 4:10. This is huge from a towing ability and efficiency standpoint.
  3. The Ford cab size is perfect. Mega cab is too big and ugly (my opinion) and with kids filling my backseat the crew cab ram is just too small.
  4. Aluminum is the way to go, good for ford going for this. To be fair the curb weights of similar trucks (ram vs ford) are nearly identical with a slight edge to Ford but the ford is also much bigger (see point above).
  5. Every ford comes with Steps. I like this, I wish they were all wheel-wheel steps but it's better than nothing and saves me $600 and a few hours.
  6. The ford mirrors are so much easier to put in tow mode. I like the look of the ram mirrors better but couldn't care less if I have to get out to switch them every time I hook/unhook a trailer (i just leave them out now).
  7. Ford sunroof is actually worth having. I'm 7 weeks into a leaking sunroof on my RAM and waiting on Ram to fix it so I'm pretty scared of sun roofs right now, but if I shop ford I'd consider it again (theirs is awesome).
  8. Ford back seat storage with the flat floor is so much better. I have car seats installed all of the time and can't access the under seat storage on the RAM. With the ford it's easy to slide things in and out from under the seat.
 

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DoesRamCare? said:
  1. Ford sunroof is actually worth having. I'm 7 weeks into a leaking sunroof on my RAM and waiting on Ram to fix it so I'm pretty scared of sun roofs right now, but if I shop ford I'd consider it again (theirs is awesome).
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Sorry about your leaking Ram, but I'm here to tell you as a former F150 owner they have just as many leaks. I know mine was just a half ton, but I had water pouring into my F150 at the passenger A-pillar just before I had enough and got rid of it. It also had a sunroof. Not sure where exactly it was coming in, but it was among a lot of other issues it had.
 
I've had them all and all had issues. I was splitting hairs between a Ram 2500 and an f-250. For me, the interior and the usefulness of the Megacab was why I went with a Ram 2500 Longhorn Megacab. Ford's sunroofs are beautiful but they're trash. My 2017 f250 King Ranch and my 2019 Raptor leaked like a SOB. They were constantly in the shop getting the rails adjusted and headliners replaced.
 
DoesRamCare? said:
I'm in the midst of 7 weeks of a leaking sunroof on a truck that is 3 months old with 3k miles. This was the dream truck... delmonico night edition, HO, max tox...

I thought it would be good to re-think why I went with RAM (over ford basically, I didn't even entertain GM products):
  1. Room under the hood, I hate how the powerstroke is just stuffed under the hood and there are hoses just laid on top of the engine.
  2. Interior build quality and features. My previous 2019 F-150 XLT center console was so flexible and there were touch points that had sharp plastic edges (as designed).
  3. I was first shopping in 2019 for a 2020 and the 10 speed in the ford made me nervous I liked the robustness of the Aisin 6 speed. So far the 10 speed seems to be good and now I think Ram lags here.
  4. 100k warranty on RAM covers diesel engine AND powertrain. Ford's only covers the engine to 100k and 60k standard for powertrain.
  5. Looking on fuelly and from my limited test drives the RAM was more efficient from a mpg perspective.
  6. Night edition available on the big horn, for Ford you have to go to at least a lariat to get the "black" appearance package.
  7. The ford column shifter feels so inadequate compared to the ram. Yes this is a pet peeve, but after driving both back to back I felt like the ford would snap off.
  8. Towing capacity on single rear wheel Rams with the HO put ford to shame.
And for fun where I think Ford beats Ram:
  1. Powerstroke/10 speed is way more fun to drive.
  2. First gear ratio on the 10 speed creates a total reduction with 3:55 gears that is lower than my max tow aisin with 4:10. This is huge from a towing ability and efficiency standpoint.
  3. The Ford cab size is perfect. Mega cab is too big and ugly (my opinion) and with kids filling my backseat the crew cab ram is just too small.
  4. Aluminum is the way to go, good for ford going for this. To be fair the curb weights of similar trucks (ram vs ford) are nearly identical with a slight edge to Ford but the ford is also much bigger (see point above).
  5. Every ford comes with Steps. I like this, I wish they were all wheel-wheel steps but it's better than nothing and saves me $600 and a few hours.
  6. The ford mirrors are so much easier to put in tow mode. I like the look of the ram mirrors better but couldn't care less if I have to get out to switch them every time I hook/unhook a trailer (i just leave them out now).
  7. Ford sunroof is actually worth having. I'm 7 weeks into a leaking sunroof on my RAM and waiting on Ram to fix it so I'm pretty scared of sun roofs right now, but if I shop ford I'd consider it again (theirs is awesome).
  8. Ford back seat storage with the flat floor is so much better. I have car seats installed all of the time and can't access the under seat storage on the RAM. With the ford it's easy to slide things in and out from under the seat.
Click to expand...
My buddies 20 f350 has been at the dealer more than in his possession issues with many things including that 10speed turd
 
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skyball said:
I've had them all and all had issues. I was splitting hairs between a Ram 2500 and an f-250. For me, the interior and the usefulness of the Megacab was why I went with a Ram 2500 Longhorn Megacab. Ford's sunroofs are beautiful but they're trash. My 2017 f250 King Ranch and my 2019 Raptor leaked like a SOB. They were constantly in the shop getting the rails adjusted and headliners replaced.
Click to expand...

Agree - I think the big takeaway is no sunroof no matter which brand. Ram makes it really hard because almost all laramies and up are built with one so you really have to go special order unless you're shopping big horns.


H3LZSN1P3R said:
My buddies 19 f350 has been at the dealer more than in his possession issues with many things including that 10speed turd
Click to expand...

2020 was the first year of the 10 speed. I expect it will have some hiccups as they did when they introduced a 10 speed to the f-150, but man when you look at the gear spread in that transmission it sure seems worth it.
 
DoesRamCare? said:
Agree - I think the big takeaway is no sunroof no matter which brand. Ram makes it really hard because almost all laramies and up are built with one so you really have to go special order unless you're shopping big horns.
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I guess I was lucky, my Laramie is pretty much fully loaded and no sunroof. I have had a sunroof in almost every vehicle I can remember owning and I never really used it at all. So for me to get a truck without one was a bonus for me for many reasons.
 
I have had a 94 - 06- 14 and now a 20 . They get better every time . Never had an engine problem with Cummins . I have also logged over 2 .5 million miles in 5 new class 8 Semis all Cummins powered and never had a hook on any of them . Cummins the power to pull !
 
Gotta say, after reading so many posts about issues, complaints, etc. This is a refreshing thread!
Many folks come here looking for help, so the issues threads are understandable.

I purchased my first Ram (Dodge) in 2003. Traded a Tundra for a '03 1500 QC 4X4 and have owned a Ram ever since!
Was first drawn in by the styling. I liked it better than the other offerings.

I have looked at the other makes each time I purchase a vehicle. I work hard for my money, and don't have much of it.
The Ram has won every time.

My experience with the reliability, value for the $$$, interior function, interior quality, etc... all draws me in.
I don't care who has 5 more HP/TQ, a bit faster up the hill, etc... I want to be comfortable while driving and trust the vehicle will get me, my family and whatever I'm carrying to its destination!

Ram has been a great truck in my experience (Fingers crossed this remains!).
 
I started with a '97 Ram in high school. Drove a '01 Ram all through college into my mid 20's. My whole family buys GM products and after years of being the black sheep I opted for a silverado after college as my first "adult" vehicle. It was the biggest piece of junk! At just under 100K miles it needed a new engine. It was constantly in the shop and the repairs on it were terrible. I spent $1000's last year just trying to get it back in working order. Finally I gave up and went back to a Ram. I think my cummins is faster and smoother than my dads duramax and it gets better MPG (his is a 3500).

FWIW; I initially wanted a Power Wagon but couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a gas 3/4 ton. I don't tow TT's but I have a few large utility trailers I use to tow ranch equipment/cattle and my offroad toys. When I do tow something it's usually pretty far from home. Planning my first big haul with it this summer to CO from TX towing my 24' gooseneck with ATV's and SXS's onboard. I know the ram will have no problems doing it.
 
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